House prices grew at a steady rate in November

House prices grew at a steady rate in November, but growth has almost halved over the past year.

House prices grew by 2.5 per cent year-on-year in November, according to Nationwide's house price index, the same rate of growth recorded in October. This is a sharp fall in growth from a year ago, when annual inflation stood at 4.4 per cent.

The average price for a home was £209,988, up from £204,947 in the same month last year.

Robert Gardner, Nationwide's chief economist, said: "Low mortgage rates and healthy rates of employment growth are providing support for demand, but this is being partly offset by pressure on household incomes, which appears to be weighing on confidence. The lack of homes on the market is providing support to house prices."

In the Budget, Philip Hammond sought to help first-time buyers by handing them a stamp duty holiday on purchases worth up to £300,000.

Nationwide said the policy will only have a modest impact on demand, because in many parts of the UK first-time buyers are purchasing properties worth less than £125,000, which was the level of the previous threshold for stamp duty.

However, in London, where first-time buyers will not pay stamp duty on the first £300,000 on purchases of up to £500,000, the average stamp duty paid has fallen from £13,102 to £9,778.